Report: Dodge to pull out of NASCAR
DETROIT (AP) - A person briefed on the matter says that Dodge is pulling out of its NASCAR sponsorship at the end of this season.
Chrysler, which owns the Dodge brand, has scheduled a conference call for Tuesday afternoon to announce the withdrawal.
The person did not know the reason for the decision. They did not want to be identified because the company hasn't made any announcements yet.
Among the four manufacturers in the top racing series, Dodge is now in last place. Chevrolet is in first, followed by Toyota and then Ford.
Dodge's long-term future in NASCAR had been subject to speculation after its flagship team, Penske Racing, announced it was moving to Ford next season.
ESPN reported on the move earlier Tuesday
Chrysler, which owns the Dodge brand, has scheduled a conference call for Tuesday afternoon to announce the withdrawal.
The person did not know the reason for the decision. They did not want to be identified because the company hasn't made any announcements yet.
Among the four manufacturers in the top racing series, Dodge is now in last place. Chevrolet is in first, followed by Toyota and then Ford.
Dodge's long-term future in NASCAR had been subject to speculation after its flagship team, Penske Racing, announced it was moving to Ford next season.
ESPN reported on the move earlier Tuesday
That's sad. Chrysler has so mismanaged the company, that they are now in danger of the core brands disappearing. Dodge pulling out of Nascar is a huge hit for Dodge, especially when Dodge is trying to reinvigorate the brand with the introduction of the Challenger and Charger which were muscle cars back in the day and part of Nascar history.Â
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The company has made a series of errors. First, the quality and reliability of the Jeep products have deteriorated significantly. "Trail Ready" now means shopping mall ready. The switching of the name Dodge Ram truck to Ram truck is inexplicable, shortsighted, and lacking common sense. Now this, the pulling out of Nascar, despite marketing cars like the Challenger and Charger. This is basically an admission that the company is in serious trouble, and may fold soon.Â
 @GeorgeG. Chrysler hasn't managed Chrysler for 12 years, so saying they've mismanaged doesn't make much sense.  Daimler-Benz siphoned the life out of Chrysler and Cerberus didn't help either.  Prior to Daimler, Chrysler had great quality (yes, except for transmissions - even though most A604/42TE/41LE transmission problems were related to Dextron fluid).  But that's the ONLY good thing to come from Daimler - the W5A580.  Now they're using ZF, so the transmission argument is moot.
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Now that Chrysler is teamed up with Fiat, their quality is skyrocketing and their sales prove it. Â Chrysler is helping Fiat stay afloat financially while Europe gets through their financial mess. If you firmly believe that Chrysler has worse quality now than they did 10 years ago, and that you think they are in serious trouble and will fold soon, you have a very skewed sense of where Chrysler is at right now. Â I'd recommend you do some better research and maybe even drive a new one.
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One thing I do agree with you on is spinning the RAM truck line off as a brand. Â Dodge needs to be about cars AND trucks. Â But, it is what it is and part of me believes (or hopes) RAM can hold its own as a brand.
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Personally, I don't care that they're pulling out of NASCAR. Â It's nothing more than a sponsorship. Â There's nothing about Chrysler or any other car maker in NASCAR. Â It's just a boring race with boring cars with stickers.
 @GeorgeG. Their biggest flub in my opinion was when Daimler Benz bought the company. Instead of making the smart choice, and bringing Daimler's engineers in to fix the transmission and electronics issues that have plagued the company for decades, they instead convinced the board that Daimler's engineers were overpaid, and the added profits from getting rid of the men and women who made Mercedes among the best cars on the road would be to their benefit. Not only did that allow Chrysler's problems to continue, but Mercedes quality tanked for the seven years the two companies were conjoined. So sad.
@GeorgeG. "....the company is in serious trouble, and may fold soon." I agree with your statement. For me, I was saving $$ to get a new car, one of {Dodge, Chev, Ford... in that order} I really liked the Dodge, but if (as it seems) the company is going under, Dodge is - will be pulled from consideration.  I don't want to spend this kind of money, only to be stuck with a non-servicable "new" car.
Meh, the cars are so far removed now from any actual model that it is Dodge or Ford in name only. Not a big loss to me, for either side.
 @theToucan Oh really? Thanks for stating the obvious
Yes, it is obvious, which is why the comment was preceded with "meh."